Joan Oates Institute

• Understand the philosophy, techniques, and impacts of a multimodal, interdisciplinary approach to teaching
• Practice inquiry-based educational methods that incorporate arts, technology, culture, and community, and examine how they influence academic and social-emotional outcomes
• Learn how to view and apply the arts to curricular instruction and assessment with students

Participants will create an educational plan to integrate the arts into their local school curriculum, learn about arts integration resources, and join a network of professional colleagues interested in integrating creativity and sparking curiosity in classrooms. The innovative lessons and unit plans developed in this course can become the basis of a grant proposal, PBL, or IB project.

Below are the modules from 2022, which was held in a hybrid format across three weeks with the sound-based theme "Listening to our Communities." Updated instructors and workshop details for 2023, which is one week long and fully in-person, will be posted soon.

Week 1: In Person

• Defining Arts Integration: Partners in the Arts will share how to build a learning community based on equity, trust, and candor. Educators will access the framework for integrated instruction and assessment tools to begin a unit plan. 
• Learning with ArcGIS StoryMaps: Educators will use this data visualization tool for direct instruction, virtual field trips, independent learning, and e-portfolios.
• Interviewing our Communities: Former National Geographic editor and reporter Don Belt shares his  “Slow Journalism" curriculum, and will guide participants through interviewing processes that improve active listening skills and build deep connections.
• Experiencing Sound in Nature: Open Space Education combines art with nature-based learning. Educators will learn to cultivate adaptability, resilience, and creativity in students while connecting them to the outdoors.
• Exploring the Science of Sound: PBS Learning Media and UR Physics faculty reveal how waves work and how we can observe, capture and create the sounds around us.

Week 2: Self-Paced Online

• Observing with Sketchbooks: Illustrator Aijung Kim demonstrates how the process of sketching sharpens observation skills. Drawing and writing in zines deepens the connections students make between their learning and their personal journey story.
• Using Culturally Situated Design Tools: Culture and STEM collide by studying “heritage algorithms” in everything from Native beadwork to urban graffiti. Participants will make math and computer science connections that can combat racial and gender misconceptions.
• Teaching New American History: Look at an innovative way to teach American history with free tools and resources available to all educators. Educators will uncover new ways to teach the past in light of the present.
• Mapping AudibleRVA: Ethnomusicologist Dr. Andy McGraw shares how sound data can be used to tell the story of the policies and people in our communities.

Week 3: In Person

• Harnessing Spoken Word: Richmond’s first poet laureate, Roscoe Burnems, will lead experimentation with the different ways slam poetry can engage, empower, and amplify student voice.
• Integrating Student Culture through Rap: MC, radio host, and educator BlackLiq will guide an exploration of how to create student- and community-relevant rhymes. Participants will have the opportunity to release some tension, and incorporate multiple content areas.
• Making Beats on Earsketch: CodeVA’s Thomas Brownell (DJTommy2600) showcases how students can learn coding through an open source sound and music creation app. Educators will heighten observation and active listening skills, and practice telling authentic community stories using sound artifacts and lyrics from all module sections.